When We Were Young
by JLaLa
Summary: The assignment was easy. Falling in love with the target was not. Modern AU. Assassin!Katniss
1. When We Were Young

Hello, my dears! Enjoy!

The character of The Hunger Games Trilogy do not belong to me.

This was the prompt sent to me on Tumblr:

' _I'm meant to kill you but I've been watching you for a week to work out how and you're just too nice.' AU_

When We Were Young

"Your next assignment." Haymitch, my supervisor, pushes the thin file folder across his desk towards me. "We're being paid a pretty sum for this one." He stretches in his seat, his arms reaching behind him before resting his hands at the back of his head. "But, this will be a difficult one."

I open the file reading over the target's demographics. "Peeta Mellark-Legal Aid lawyer on the side, specializing in International Affairs, and a teacher at Panem Elementary." The scoff escapes my mouth without a thought. "Who did he piss off?"

"Burton Cray," Haymitch says. "The boy scout helped foil the smuggling of young kids from Thailand to the States. Kids, who no doubt, were in for a life of servitude or prostitution—or, maybe both. Mellark is set to testify against the man in two weeks' time. Cray knows he's going behind bars if the boy testifies and he's willing to pay big money to stop Peeta." He meets my eyes. "This is a big case, Katniss."

"I've done this kind of thing before," I respond. My eyes go back to the file, looking at the small black-and-white photo of my target. "Such a waste of a do-gooder. You piss off the wrong man and you pay for it. He's definitely going to be made a martyr after this is done."

"Better than dying and no one giving a shit," the man in front of me responds. "Make his death mean something. Honestly, the odds aren't in Cray's favor once the boy is dead but Cray creeps me out. He deserves to rot in prison."

"Then why are we taking this on?" I ask.

"Because of all of this." His arms go out to gesture at the opulent office, all mahogany and vaulted ceilings. "Because people like him keep our little secret Academy under the radar and well-funded." Haymitch meets my eyes. "The payout is enough to feed and clothe our recruits for the next ten years."

I stand resolutely. "Then let me do my job."

Haymitch hold his palm up to me. "Wait," he starts. "You're not going in completely blind. We're sending you out with a backstory. You need to get inside this man's circle—get him to trust you. It needs to look like an accident. If it doesn't, then it will immediately be connected to Cray and he won't have that."

"What the hell are you expecting me to do?" I ask him. "Be his friend and spike his drink?"

"That sounds like a plausible idea," Haymitch responds. "I'll ask Wiress and Beetee if they can come up with something untraceable for you to slip into his drink." He presses the buzzer next to his phone, speaking into it. "We're ready." He looks up at me. "Also, we decided that you need a partner—"

My mouth tightens at his words, feeling the sting of distrust. "No, I do this alone."

The office door opens and Effie, Haymitch's wife and Headmistress of the Academy, enters along with a petite blonde with bright blue eyes. The girl looks about ten or so and she walks behind Effie shyly, practically hiding behind her. It's almost endearing, her innocence.

I was about her age when I was recruited.

"Katniss, my dear." Effie gives me a smile before moving the girl forward. "I want to introduce you to your _sister_ , Primrose."

* * *

My eyes go to my newly trimmed and layered hair as I examine myself in my vanity mirror. My raven hair is still long, hitting past my shoulders, and stopping right above my chest. Cinna, who does all pre-assignment makeovers and styling, didn't do too much. He waxed my eyebrows, which hurt like hell, and some other places that were completely unnecessary. Portia, his cousin and partner, did my makeup as well as gave me a tutorial on how to emphasize my smoke-colored eyes.

I look normal, not as pinched face as I usually do.

Standing, I walk over to the corner of the room where a full-length mirror stands. I wear an olive jacket, a three-quarter sleeve black and white shirt, skinny jeans, and knee-length boots. Apparently this is what people my age wear now and I look at the grey uniform that I usually wear tossed messily on my bed.

I'm going to miss that drab little garb. It was comfortable as hell.

"Oy, you look almost normal!"

I turned to see Johanna, my roommate, walking out of the bathroom. Steam escapes the room as she closes the door and heads over to our walk-in closet. I turn away, my eyes looking down at the floor.

Even after all this time, I can never get used to her walking around naked as the day she was born.

Though I have a theory that she came out of the womb holding a pistol.

Johanna is my mentor, four years older than me with ten times the amount of kills. None of the recruits match her record. I am a far-behind second with Marvel, one of the male recruits, following at third. Johanna has taught me everything I know—from shooting a gun to avoiding security—and I want to make her proud.

If I succeed then she will be promoted and taken out of the assassins list. Johanna will be able to teach instead and live a semi-normal life.

Teachers at the Academy are allowed to leave the facility, reside in normal society, marry, and even have children. The only contingency being that their partner must sign a sort of prenuptial agreement stating that they will not reveal the whereabouts of the school or our jobs. If the agreement is broken, then said partner is killed immediately.

"What is normal?" I question before turning to make sure that she is properly dressed.

Johanna has the decency to put on a robe before plopping onto my bed. She kicks off my uniform onto the plush carpet and pats the space next to her.

"The hair, the clothes, the make-up," she tells me. "That's normal. I heard you got a little sister."

"Yes. As of today, I am Katniss Everdeen, nurse from Boston who has just moved to Panem with her younger sister, Primrose." I give her an assuring smile. "Don't worry, I've got down the basics of nursing. I'll just stick to general nursing topics if anyone asks."

"And, your parents?" she grills me.

"Died in car crash two years ago," I respond easily. "Thus the reason for Prim's despondent attitude."

"Oh, she's an angsty little girl, is she?" Johanna grins at me. "Imagine, you're raising a little you." She looks to me. "You were not much different at that age. I had an interesting time."

"I was ten and you were fourteen," I say. "Prim and I have an almost eleven year difference between us. How will I relate to her?"

"I don't know." Johanna lays back on the bed. "Ask her about Justin Bieber?"

"Who's that?"

"I don't know, but I heard some of the younger girl recruits talking about him," Johanna replies. "You're going to be okay." She takes my hand. "I'm real proud of you."

"Thanks." I lean down to kiss her cheek. "If it makes you feel better, you get the dorm to yourself. You can bring anyone back here and not worry about making noise."

"Really, what's stopped me before?" she asks with a salacious smile.

"That is true." I recall many a time when I've had to put a pillow over my ears whenever she brought one of the male recruits into the room. "Well, you'll get your choice of bed or chair or counter…"

"That is true, though blowjobs can be a bit of a hassle—especially if it's in the shower...but the noise won't be a problem." Johanna muses for a bit before looking to me. "How about you?" She sits back up and smirks. "You going to get some while you're on the outside?"

"Uh...no." I stand up to go to the closet and grab my luggage. Effie has already packed a bag for me with the help of Cinna and Portia. I am inept when it comes to clothes. I'll wear anything as long as it fits and it gives me room for food. "That is not the reason that I'm supposed to be out there. I'm out there to get my target." I go to the vanity where the file rests. Snatching it, I toss it at Johanna. "I kill him and I come back."

Johanna's eyes go to the open file.

"Yum-yum...Peeta Mellark. Even in this tiny little photo, I can tell he's hot." She jumps from the bed and goes to my bag that I've placed my door. Opening it and going to her knees, she examines the contents before looking to me. "There's some decent underwear and clothes but no lingerie…"

"Because I'm not going to be thinking about that," I respond. "Please close the bag."

"In any case, I'm going to give you something." Johanna gets up to go to her side table and she pulls out a small purple box. "I know that you say you won't need them, but just in case." She holds the box out to me. "You know how to put a condom on, right?"

I can feel my face burning before I grab the box from her.

"Of course. We've had the class about the art of seduction."

"Not much of a class, honestly," Johanna retorts. "Cashmere has been around the block but she is a terrible lay, according to a few of her conquests."

Putting the box in my bag—a simple brown leather tote—I take a calming breath before looking to her.

"Thank you for your help," I say diplomatically. "I'll be alright."

Johanna looks up at me. "It's like watching my sister leave home for the first time." She reaches over and pulls me into her embrace. "I'm going to miss you, little Mockingjay."

"You haven't called me that in ages," I respond with a smile.

We were all assigned names upon entry into the Academy. Haymitch and Effie decided to give me the codename Mockingjay, after the orphanage from which they adopted me. Johanna took to it immediately, calling me Mockingjay instead of my actual name for weeks.

It took me decking her in the face for her to quit it.

We've been friends ever since.

Johanna sighs as she pulls me away. "I'm going to miss you, Katniss."

* * *

"So the house we've rented for you is in a good neighborhood," Effie explains as Haymitch and Cinna load up the non-distinguishable green Toyota Tercel. "Prim's school and your target's house are about a ten minute walk away."

She never thinks of them as real people, only targets. I think it is Effie's version of penance, to choose all of us at the Academy in oppose to the people outside our own little world. To Effie, we are like her children. Johanna, Marvel, and myself are all her eldest and now Prim is her youngest.

Without even noticing, she zips up my jacket for me just as any mother would.

"Be safe, sweetheart," Effie tells me, her hand going to the nape of my neck. I press my forehead to hers and see her light-blue eyes fill with tears. "Come back to us soon."

"I will," I promise. "This is an easy job."

The look in her eyes tells me different.

"Here she is!" I look over to the doorway as Johanna and Prim come out. The little blonde girl looks much more like a ten-year-old, especially with the two braids that they've divided her hair into. She wears a pair of jeans, black Converses, and a burgundy zip-up sweater. "Your little sister, sweet and innocent."

I look to the girl who sulks as she walks towards us. I'm pretty sure she's thinking about ten different ways to take Johanna down with just her pinky. I read Prim's profile as Cinna did my hair. She's skilled in combat and fast as hell.

Effie goes to her and gives her a hug. Immediately, Prim melts into the woman and I have to smile at that. She actually looks cute when she's happy.

Then her eyes open and when she sees me staring, her face hardens once more.

Backing away, I look to Johanna and she puts an arm around me. "You ready?"

"Sure. This is going to be easy," I respond as we walk to the driver's side of the car. "I've done this before."

"But the target is different," Johanna argues. "It's easy when they're the bad guy. However, Peeta is just the unfortunate person who got on someone's shit list. You'll empathize with him." She leans closer to me. "It wouldn't be so bad to give him a little somethin' somethin' before you get rid of him."

"This is a job!" I tell her. "Nothing else."

"You're no fun!" She hugs me anyway then rushes back into the large brick mansion before I can see her do something foolish—like cry.

"Katniss." Cinna approaches me. He gives me a hug before taking something out of his leather jacket. "This pin is a tracking device. A Mockingjay pin, if you will." Smiling, he takes the round pin with the open winged bird on it, he attaches it to the lapel of my own jacket. "If you're going anywhere, just make sure to put it on. There's also an emergency button in the back, press it and someone will come for you."

The handsome, dark-skinned man smiles at me before pulling me close.

"Good luck," he whispers. "You look very lovely—not that you didn't before. Just don't be surprised if you get approached by some single dads from Prim's school."

"I guess so," I mutter as we pull away. "Thanks for everything."

He steps away so that Haymitch can say goodbye. My supervisor and pseudo-father holds his arms out to me and I sink easily into them. We share the same olive skin, grey eyes, and dark hair so it's practically like he is related to me.

"Take care of yourself," he tells me. "And, take care of Prim." There's concern in his eyes. "If it takes longer than the allotted time, you call me."

"I have a feeling that you'll call anyway," I respond as we move apart. "After the job is done, do you think there'll be kickback?"

"Dependent on how you kill him, it's very possible," Haymitch says. "Mellark has no priors so it will definitely be suspicious if he's taken out. Panem is too clean-cut for there to be muggers and there are no gang-affiliated neighborhoods so forget about a drive-by."

"So it's possible that we'll be there longer than two weeks."

"More than possible," he concludes. "I'll miss you."

"Ditto on that, Haymitch," I say. "Take care of Effie and the rest of them. Promise that you'll give Johanna that promotion. She needs it—especially after…everything."

He nods, his grey eyes suddenly sad. "I'm already drawing up paperwork for her."

Prim is already in the car so I sit down in the driver's seat and pull the door closed.

Turning on the engine, I look to the sullen girl. "Do you like Justin Bieber?"

Prim frowns. "Who?"

Oh boy, I can tell this is going to be fun.

I beep at our family before driving down the pathway and away from Capitol Academy, the only home that I've ever known.

* * *

The house has a picket fence and a bright red door.

Tiredly, Prim and I make our way up the cobbled pathway and to our front door where I open it using the set of keys that are with the car keys. I turn on the lights and we immediately walk into the living room where Prim tiredly falls onto our new beige sofa.

Going to the mantle of our fireplace, I look over the photos on its surface. There are doctored photos of myself and Prim in private school uniforms as well as a few of us as children. Another one shows me in a pair of scrubs taking a person's vitals. The last one, however, makes my breath hitch.

It's a picture of myself and Prim along with Haymitch and Effie.

"It almost looks real." I turn to see Prim standing next to me, her eyes sad. "Like we were a real family."

I peer at the photo for a moment, amazed at Wiress' ability with photo manipulation.

"I don't think I've ever smiled that hard," I reply and Prim snorts. The picture looks like it was taken at a recent graduation as I am in a cap and gown. "It's amazing how much you and Effie look alike."

"Don't you mean Mom?" Prim responds wryly. "You definitely look like dear old Dad." She goes back to her spot on the couch, her eyes aimed above the fireplace and going wide. "Oh my God, we have a flat-screen TV!"

"What is that?" I ask as she searches for the remote in the apothecary coffee table.

Quickly, Prim switches the television on and looks to me in exasperation.

"Have you been living in a cave?" She flips through channels before stopping on a movie with a much older Julie Andrews and a frizzy-haired girl. "Have you seen this movie?"

I shake my head. "I think the last movie I watched was _The Sound of the Music_ with Julie Andrews."

"Wow." A wide smile spreads across her tiny face. "You really have been living out of range."

Curiously, I look to her. "How long have you been at the Academy?"

"Six months," Prim replies. "Haymitch caught me pick-pocketing and, instead of turning me in, he brought me to the Academy. He was impressed with my stealth."

"And, where were you before?"

I already know that she ran away from her foster home, but I'm curious to see just how much she'll reveal. It's an exercise on interrogation skills that Johanna often did with me.

She peers at me for a moment, before responding, "With you, Mom, and Dad, of course."

I nod in approval. "And, where did we hail from?"

"Boston," she answers easily. "You graduated two years ago and were Magna Cum Laude. Mom cried throughout the whole ceremony. Dad took us to a fancy restaurant and taught me how to really crack open a lobster. That was right before the accident."

I relax against the back of the couch and grin at how natural her words are. "Anything else?"

"We're both great lovers of pizza," Prim says with a smile. Without the sulky expression, she is actually very sweet looking. "And, we're starving right now."

I look around the softly-colored living room. "I'll go look for a phone book—"

"Don't bother." Prim takes my phone from the coffee table. Leaning back against me, I watch her easily download an ordering app and then look for a local pizza joint. "Pepperoni and mushroom?" I nod and she easily orders before putting the phone down. "Should be here in 30 minutes."

I look at the television where the frizzy-haired girl is now beautiful and transformed as she walks the hilly San Francisco with her friend.

"So what is this movie about?"

Prim looks excitedly at me and I see a glimpse of the girl that she could've been if she didn't have such a fucked-up life; the life she would have had if her mother didn't abandon her in front of a fire station and she didn't end up in an orphanage where she was molested, as her CPS reports narrated. Her examination at the Academy revealed signs of sexual trauma and it is obvious by her defensiveness that she has trust issues.

So if I can give her a little bit of fun by being her big sister, then why not?

"Okay! Okay!" Prim claps her hands excitedly before looking to the television. "That is Mia. She lives in San Francisco with her mom who's an artist. She's not really popular and is really bad at public speaking."

I look at the screen where Mia is sitting with Julie Andrews. "Now who is Julie Andrews?"

"She's Mia's grandmother and the Queen of Genovia which is fictional, of course," Prim explains. "So basically, her grandmother comes to tell Mia that because her father passed away, that she is now set to rule over Genovia and eventually become Queen."

"And, what is this called?"

" _The Princess Diaries_ ," Prim informs me as I watch Mia talk to a shaggy-haired boy. "Oh, and that guy is Michael! He is Mia's best friend Lilly's brother and has a crush on Mia."

"Well, that's intriguing," I respond encouragingly.

We continue to watch _The Princess Diaries_ and by the time the pizza arrives, we find a bunch of other movies inside the coffee table. Prim continues to school me on what exactly has been happening since I've been off in the countryside, training for kills, and traveling to make them.

By the time I tuck Prim into her canopy bed and turn off the light by the posters of some group called One Direction, I have been caught up with everything from apps on phones, the Kardashians, and someone named Adele, who Prim says I need to listen to.

I go to my own bedroom—a comfortably chic room made of soft blues and beiges—and fall asleep quickly.

Tomorrow, our new life begins.

* * *

" _I was so scared to face my fears  
Nobody told me that you'd be here  
And I swear you moved overseas  
That's what you said, when you left me…_"

Listening to Adele during the morning is strangely moving. Her voice pulses through me like the blood rushing through my heated veins and I pump my legs harder losing myself in her soulful voice.

Suddenly, I'm knocked down and my headphones, along with my phone, are flying off me.

The phone hits the ground and I turn to see that the screen is cracked, the home screen with another doctored photo of my face and Prim's split in different pieces.

"Oh shit!" I reached down for it and realize that I'll have to call IT to send me another one.

Communication is key in this mission and I have to make sure that I'm able to track my target easily—

"I'm so sorry!"

I angrily turn at the voice, ready to bite the person's head off, and suddenly freeze seeing the person in front of me.

It's Peeta Mellark.

Peeta Mellark in a pair of tight running pants, shorts, and a loose t-shirt that doesn't hide his well-formed figure very well.

Johanna was right. The black and white photo does not do him justice.

"Listen, let me pay for the replacement glass for your phone," he says apologetically. "I don't have any cash on me, but my place is nearby and I can write you a check—"

"No." I tuck my phone back into the pocket of my vest. I could've fucking shot him right then, but I was the idiot who didn't pack her gun for her early morning run. "Forget about it." I turn and walk away from the man before the thought of breaking his neck overtakes me.

"No, wait!" I hear him following so I begin to run away. "I just want to make sure you're okay!"

"I'm okay!" I yell behind me, trying to rid myself of my running partner. "It's really fine!"

However, Peeta persists and I think how moronic it must look—him running after me as I tell him to go away. He follows me all the way back to the house and I stop once more in front of the white picket fence.

"I was wondering who bought this house," he says breathlessly and smiles. "You're incredibly fast."

"Thanks, I guess," I respond. "So…bye."

"What's your name?" he asks suddenly. "I mean, I'm Peeta Mellark. I live about a block down from where I knocked into you."

"Katniss Everdeen," I say quickly and tersely. "I have to go—"

"Katniss?" I look over to the front door to see Prim in her long t-shirt and pajama pants. She looks sleepily at me. "Where did you go?"

"Sorry, sis," I tell her as I open the gate and walk up the porch. "I went for my morning run and just got sidetracked."

Prim looks over my shoulder at Peeta and raises a brow at me. "Oh, okay. I have to get ready for school."

"Yeah, go and wash up," I respond. "I'll make breakfast."

I lead her into the house, slamming the door before Peeta can say anything else.

"That's him!" Prim exclaims as soon as the door is shut. "That's the guy!"

"I'm well aware." Leading her by the shoulders, I move her towards the stairs. "Now get ready."

"He totally likes you." Prim turns at the first step and grins. "It's just too bad that you have to take him out."

I shake my head as she runs up the stairs, giggling to herself.

* * *

"Katniss!" I almost groan hearing the voice and turn just as Peeta approaches Prim and me. His smile lights up his whole face, his blues glowing even brighter as he looks to me. He stops, running a hand through his golden waves and then looks between the Prim and me. "Your sister?"

"Oh yeah." I push Prim forward. "This is my younger sister, Prim."

He holds out his hand and gives her a smile. "Hello, Prim. I'm Peeta Mellark."

She shakes it firmly and beams. "I know. My sister has been complaining about you since this morning." Her arms go around my waist and she presses herself against me affectionately. "This is my class. I'll see you after school."

Prim rushes away with a wicked smile on her face and leaving me to fend for myself.

I have a feeling that she's trained with Johanna before.

"So you complained about me?" Peeta asks carefully.

"You broke my phone," I reply and turn towards the exit.

"Can I offer you a juice box?" he calls out.

I whip around at him. Inside my purse is my pistol, silencer attached. In the vial of the necklace I wear is the poison that Beetee and Wiress created, untraceable and mimics a heart attack when used.

"A what?" I ask in irritation.

"A juice box," Peeta responds. "I give it to the kids I teach when they're upset."

My hand is already in my purse as my temper rises. It'll take me half-a-second to undo the safety.

"I feel really bad," he continues. "You're new to Panem and the first person that you come across just happens to mess up your phone? I wouldn't be too happy, either. So this is my way of making peace and also welcoming you to town. I teach first grade and they don't start for another half-hour. We can hang out in the classroom." Approaching cautiously, Peeta gives me another smile. "So will you? Have a juice box with me?"

I bite back the urge to roll my eyes. "Fine."

Peeta looks genuinely excited at my acceptance. "Alright, follow me." He leads me down the hall and then opens the last door on the left for me. I walk past him, my nose catching that cool scent coming off of him.

The inside of the classroom is all circled tables and tiny chairs. There is a small red couch next to the large carpet in front of the chalkboard. I walk over to the couch, careful to make sure that I don't trip in the heels I wear.

Sitting down, I adjust my skirt and sit on the obviously used couch, sinking quickly into its cushion.

"Here." Peeta rushes over with a juice box and then sits beside me. He holds out his own juice box to me. "Welcome to Panem."

I toast my box to his. "Thanks."

We take silent sips from our juice boxes and then he puts his down, giving me a smile. "So where are you coming from?"

"Boston." I take another sip from my juice box, suddenly aware of how nervous I am. This is probably the easiest job I've ever done and I'm a mess in the presence of this handsome blond man. "I just got a job nearby."

"Boston?" he responds. "I don't hear the accent."

"Oh." I search my mind for a plausible answer. "We settled there in my senior year of high school but we traveled around because of my Dad's job. Then I went to college in Washington D.C. and when my parents died, Prim and I stayed there while I worked. Then I got my job here and…yeah."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a nurse," I say to him and give him an easy smile.

"That's very altruistic," he says to me. "My mom is a nurse, too."

Oh shit. I should've done my research. He probably knows all sorts of medical jargon.

"It's nothing compared to being a teacher." I look around at the many construction paper drawings and paper chains, trying to distract him. "You get to see all the good work that you do daily through your students."

"I love it." Peeta looks over at me. "I really do feel bad about ruining your phone."

His warm gaze throws me off and I nervously twiddle with the charm containing the poison.

"It's really fine," I assure him. "That's what insurance is for."

"Can I make it up to you?" he asks. "Dinner, maybe?"

"You're asking me out." It's not a question and more of myself trying to understand what his motive is. "Why?"

"Because you literally and figuratively knocked me over." The softness of his voice, the hopefulness of it causes something inside me to catch. It's suddenly very warm in the room. "And, I just want to know you."

That's a simple one.

I'm Katniss. I was abandoned in an orphanage and don't know who my family is. I don't know who I am.

All I know is that I'm supposed to kill you.

"There's nothing special about me," I finally say.

He gazes thickly at me. "I highly doubt that, Katniss."

* * *

 _ **Three Days Later…**_

"So on day one, you managed to already run into your target," Haymitch says as we talk on the iPad that he's provided Prim and me with. My 'sister' showed me how to figure it out as we finished off our second box of pizza that first night in Panem. Haymitch's telltale smirk is dead center in front of me as I sit on the couch. "So tell me, how is he?"

"The target knocked into me that morning and cracked the screen of my phone," I start and present my split-screen iPhone to my supervisor. "So I'll need the screen replaced because I don't want to lose any of these app things that Prim downloaded for me. Then after that, he followed me to our house, and offered to get it fixed."

"Sounds like a real jackass." Haymitch snickers at me. "Then what?"

"I go to drop Prim off at school and he offers me a juice box."

He looks at me quizzically through the screen. "Is that like a code word for sex?"

I bristle at his question. "No, like an honest to God juice box—the kind that you give to kids. He teaches first grade and his mom is a nurse, too. Just like me."

"It was all there in the file," Haymitch responds. "Also, you knew that this was going to be a hard one. Because in the end, Katniss, the man really shouldn't be killed. He's actually a decent person and so your conscience is compromised. However, this is just a job and you're just doing what's part of your job description."

"Why would you guys decide to make me a nurse?" I ask him. "Isn't it like the cardinal rule that boys always fall for girls just like their mothers?"

"Effie is a Headmistress for a school full of assassins and my mother baked fucking pies while she cleaned house," Haymitch responds. "And, you're not really a nurse. You're an assassin. So I don't think that rules apply in this situation. I think your issue is that you don't know how to deal with a boy trying to court you."

"I can handle myself just fine." My hands busily reach for my pistol next to iPad, beginning to disassemble the sidearm so I can clean it—a relaxation technique of mine. "My issue is that everyone here seems to think that it's alright for me to like Peeta, even allow him to ask me out, knowing that I'm going to have to kill him."

"I think you're issue is that you like him and it's making hard for you to do your job," my supervisor argues back. "If you can't do it then I will get Johanna over there and she'll finish the job. Even Marvel, if needed—"

"No." Johanna's promotion is riding on this as is the money needed for the Academy. "I can do this. I _will_ do this. Even if I have to take a pistol to his mouth while I'm riding the man."

"I'm really glad that we had this talk, Katniss," Haymitch says with a chuckle. "Don't you have to pick up Prim now?"

"Oh crap. And I have to change into the scrubs," I say. "Don't lose faith in me yet, Haymitch. I'm not going to disappoint you."

"It's not me I'm worried that you're going to disappoint. It's yourself."

* * *

Prim is waiting for me outside of the building next to a girl her age with the biggest brown eyes I've ever seen, made to look bigger by the fact that her hair is pulled up in a large bun atop her head. My sister waves me over and I wave back, giving the two girls a bright smile.

"Katniss, this is Rue," Prim introduces the girl, who gives me a shy smile. "We're classmates."

"It's nice to meet you," I say to Rue.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Everdeen," Rue says.

"Just Katniss," I say to her.

"Rue invited me to sleep over her place tomorrow," Prim informs me. "May I go?"

I look at her for a moment. I know that Prim can take care of herself. However, I am concerned because she is getting too close to our situation and it will be hard on her when she has to leave Rue behind.

But damned if she doesn't look cute, begging me with those cerulean eyes.

"Fine, but I have to meet Rue's parents first," I tell the two.

The girls squeal in excitement and hug each other. It's amazing how quickly Prim has already made friends. The two then rush over to me and gather me in their embrace.

"Thanks, Katniss!" Rue says to me. "I'll be sure to tell my mom that you want to meet her so she can come to school tomorrow."

As the two girls make plans for their sleepover, my eyes look over the crowded school yard when I suddenly spot him.

Peeta Mellark is sitting at the swing set, a little girl on his lap who is wiping her eyes. He says something to her and she suddenly giggles. He smiles back and just as he looks up, our eyes meet.

He is like a damned puppy. I just want run my hands through his hair and snuggle him to me—

No, that cannot happen.

Prim tugs at my hand. "Katniss, ready to go?"

I turn away from the sight of him and give my sister a smile.

"Sure, let's go home."

* * *

"Katniss, can I ask you a question?"

I sit on Prim's bed and look down at her as she snuggles in her blue comforter. "Sure."

"When we go back to the Academy, will you forget all about me?" she asks timidly.

I shake my head. "No, never. Why would you think that?"

"When I first got there, everyone was talking about the great Mockingjay," Prim says. "I used to watch you and Johanna. You never saw me or noticed me…maybe when our job is done, things will go back to being that way again. I just want to be like you; I want to be something great."

"Prim, you don't want to become something great in this fashion," I tell her. "Scoot over." She follows my directions and I lay next to her. "I could never forget you, Prim. It's kind of nice to have a family, to have a sister and, even if those things are pretend memories of our pasts, I'll always cherish them."

Prim rests her head on my shoulder. "Me, too."

After a moment, she yawns and I sit up before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," I whisper into her ear.

Prim is already half-asleep. "Night Katniss."

Standing up, I go to the door and turn off the light, closing the door behind me.

I love Prim already and it happened without me even think about it. We've been in Panem for about four days now and I can't think of a time when she wasn't in my life. I wish that our pretend lives were real—that she was my true sister.

Immediately, I make plans to ask Haymitch for permission to mentor her just as Johanna mentored me.

Going down the stairs, I prepare to send my report to Effie. She creates the transcription for the full report after the assignment is completed.

However, I'm interrupted by a knock at our door. Immediately, I ready my pistol, hidden on the side of my jeans.

Going to the door, I'm surprised to find Peeta on our front porch. "Hello."

He smiles shyly. "I swear, I'm not stalking you. I was just at the mall, looking for a present to send to my mother and came across something." He holds a bag up. "It's a phone repair kit and I got you a replacement screen. If you're not busy, I can fix it for you right now and be out of your way."

I put the pistol back in its holster before widening the door, giving him a welcoming smile. "Come in."

If this is how to get it done, then this is the way I'll do it: I'll just have to seduce Peeta.

He is entirely seducible.

"I hope it's not too late," he says and looks up the stairs. "Is Prim already sleeping?"

I nod. "Just put her to bed." Gesturing to the living room, I close the door behind him. "Phone is in the living room. I'll get us something to drink. I have water, tea, wine…"

"Just tea," Peeta responds. "Wine will have me passed out on your couch or give me verbal diarrhea." He stops, his face red and his smile embarrassed. "I didn't mean to infer that I will be passing out on your couch or saying inappropriate things." He catches himself. "You know what? I'll just be in the living room."

I nod before heading to the kitchen, a blue-tiled room with a large stainless steel fridge. I fill the tea kettle on the stove with water before turning it on and then go to the cabinet where the tea is. My eyes go to the charm on my necklace.

Twisting the top of it, I grab a cup and ready myself to pour the poison inside.

However as I get closer to the rim, my hand begins to shake.

Damn.

"Don't fucking chicken out, Everdeen," I mutter to myself.

"Katniss, do you need help?" Peeta calls out from the living room.

"No!" I respond quickly. "I'm fine!"

Except when I look to the vial, I realize that I'm next to the sink and that it is empty.

I take a deep breath realizing that I had subconsciously stopped myself from killing Peeta. I've known him for almost four days days and he's made me completely soft.

That thought alone makes me want to burst into tears.

Instead, I take a deep breath and wash the rest of the poison down the drain before tossing the necklace. The kettle whistles and I turn it off before setting up the tea tray. I feel amazingly like Martha Stewart with this beautiful ceramic tea set.

With one more calming breath, I take the tray and return to the living room. Peeta shoots up from the sofa and takes the tray from me. Going to the coffee table, I clean it up quickly. Prim's notebooks and DVD's are scattered atop the apothecary table and I gather them quickly before placing the stack on the loveseat by the front window.

"As you can tell, we haven't had any guests," I say and give him an apologetic smile. Sitting next to him, I reach for the pot and begin to pour. "So were you able to fix the phone?"

Peeta holds my phone with its now-fixed screen up. "All done."

"Looks brand new," I reply before handing him his cup. "Isn't it a little late to be out?"

"Kindergarten and first grade don't have classes on Fridays," he informs me. "So I mostly work from home. I'm also a lawyer for Legal Aid, but just barely."

"Working for Legal Aid must keep you busy," I remark.

His face turns solemn. "I'm on administrative leave right now. I had a hard case and it just really messed me up."

On its own accord, my hand covers his. "I'm sorry."

The warmth of his skin travels through me until I'm almost squirming. The heat in my center overwhelms me, almost begs me to press my lips all over his body. My own body is betraying me with the need to touch this man.

I'm afraid that if he responds, I'll do him right on this couch.

"No, it's alright." Peeta smiles gently. "There's just some crazy things going on in this world."

Including the fact that I'm having tea with the man that I'm supposed to kill and that I threw the poison intended for him down the drain.

"Tell me about it," I say, almost to myself.

Peeta stands up abruptly; I can tell that I've made him nervous as well.

It probably doesn't help that he came by right after I've decided to take off my bra for the night and I'm wearing a white t-shirt.

"I should go. it's late. I'm sure that you have work or something."

"I have an early morning shift," I inform him as we get to the door. "Then, I'm picking Prim up from school and she'll pack before I drop her off at her friend's house for a sleepover."

"So you'll be free tomorrow night?" Peeta says as I open the front door. Hesitantly, I nod and he looks to me shyly. "On the risk of having the door slammed in my face—would you want to have dinner?"

"Sure," I respond quickly. A nervous laugh escapes my mouth. "I didn't mean to sound so excited."

He leans forward and kisses my cheek before pulling away, his usually light face a bright shade of red.

"I didn't mean to do that." Peeta meets my eyes anxiously. "Do you still want to have the dinner?"

Before I can respond, my mouth is on his as my hands cradle his face in them. He tastes of cream tea and I savor the sensation of him on my lips…along my tongue…before I finally pull away.

Peeta looks to me in a daze and I smile at his expression, pleased that I caused it.

"Now we're even. I'll see you here for dinner."

* * *

"So what do you think?" I present the dress to Johanna and Cinna on the iPad screen. It's a red and tiny. "Is it too much for a dinner here at the house?"

"What exactly do you want out of this dinner?" Johanna asks.

"Sex."

Cinna guffaws and eyes me through the camera. "You just went right for it, didn't you?"

"What else can I do?" I counter. "We're getting to the end of the week. I've been watching him and all I've managed to do was waste several opportunities to murder him. Instead, I served him tea and kissed him."

I sit down on the couch and let myself breathe for a moment.

"Katniss?" I look up to see Johanna's worried expression. "You can't do this."

"Yes I can!" Even as I protest, the tears have already begun to spring from my eyes. "I have to."

"Why is it so important?" Cinna inquires gently.

"Because I'm nothing without this job," I say in a rush. Curling up on the couch, I meet their stares. "This is the only identity that I know. Without this, I'm just Katniss no-last-name."

"You're Katniss Everdeen," Johanna responds firmly. "You're just a girl who's about to go out with a boy that she likes. You just have to live this day by day. And, I think that because you care so much...that you like Peeta...it definitely says something to me."

"What?"

"That you're human and that comes with all the feeling and follies," she tells me. "That you love and care and hurt—just like anyone else does."

"That gets me nowhere and leaves a gap in the case," I tell her. "There is no space carved out for love."

Johanna stares at me before shooing Cinna away. Once he is gone, she looks to me once more.

"Have you been with anyone before?" she asks me. "Non-assignment wise?"

I shake my head. My hymen was broken by a faux-phallus after my first gynecological exam at the Academy. I've had to perform for assignments but it was more for their pleasure and not at all for mine. It was all very...routine.

"Did it hurt?" I begin. "With Gale?"

"No." Johanna gives me a sad smile. "He was very nice."

Everyone at the Academy knows the story about Johanna's mentor, how they had fallen in love, and how they had planned to retire together from the business. Gale's last assignment had been compromised and we barely got him back to the Academy for him to die in Johanna's arms.

That was nearly four years ago and I can still see the fresh pain in my friend's eyes.

"Not everyone can have that, Johanna," I tell her quietly. "Even if I do like him."

"I don't believe you," she responds.

"You don't have to believe me." I sigh, letting my shoulders drop. "You just have to help me."

"So what is the plan?" Johanna finally asks.

"Get him to trust me, seduce him, lead him into my bed," I explain. "I shoot him while he sleeps. I tell the police that it's a jealous ex-boyfriend who found out about us. But by the time they start searching, they find out that he's already escaped somewhere that he can't be extradited from. I stay for a month or so then Prim and I leave because it's just too hard to stay around."

Johanna nods, impressed by the story. "Very clean."

"Thanks." My voice is shakier than I realize. "So really, do I look okay?"

She smiles affectionately through the screen and I'm wishing she was here.

"Wear your hair down tonight." I smile through the tears so she knows I'm listening. Even then, I can see her own eyes glittering in sisterly worry. "Don't cry, Katniss...You're having your first real date—and you're going to have the time of your life."

* * *

Immediately after dropping Prim off at Rue's house, I get ready. I feel very assured that Prim is in safe hands. Leslie, Rue's mother, is a sweet woman who obviously adores her daughter and vice-versa.

Also, I know that Rue's family is in safe hands. I went over sparring basics before we packed her overnight bag and she had made me sweating. Prim is wiry and naturally combative. She thinks well on her feet, probably from having to think ahead when she was on the streets.

When I get home, I immediately jump into the shower. I practically scrub myself raw just going over how this will all go down.

Sex does not have to be a big deal.

However if just one kiss from Peeta throws me, I can't imagine how feeling him inside of me is going to be.

The shower turned into a cold one.

I get dressed, shimmying on the red number that Cinna and Johanna approved of, then apply my makeup just as Portia instructed though there was a hiccup when I lined one of my eyes.

I'm proud to say that when the doorbell rang, I was perfectly collected.

Then our eyes meet.

And, I know that I'm completely and utterly screwed.

"You look beautiful," Peeta breathes out as he looks me over.

He, of course, looks just as good in his navy slacks and white button-down. Quickly, I close the door behind him, trying not to get distracted by the way he looks in those pants.

"Thanks," I reply. "Hey, Peeta?"

He turns to me and grins, the dimple on his square jaw deepening in the motion. "Yeah?"

"I'm no good at this," I inform him helplessly.

"Good at what?"

"Any of this...dating...basic functioning...saying things," I list for him. "And, I know that I came on a little strong."

"Honestly, it wasn't what I expected," Peeta tells me. "But...I liked it. I like you."

I almost grimace. Soft moments like this leave me unable to process, and I tend to make a face.

"Why?" I blurt out.

"Because you're different," he says. "You get upset and pissed off. Aggravated, even—"

"Keep going," I tell him, holding in my smile. "This is exactly the way I want to be complemented."

He chuckles as we walk into the living room. "But those are things that make people real; the negative and the positive feelings. You're as real and genuine as they get." We both sit down on the couch. "Plus when you smile, it makes it all the more worthwhile."

"Because it happens so rarely?" I question, trying to keep my lips from rising.

He holds in his laugh. "Exactly."

However, we find ourselves laughing together. It feels natural, just us here on the couch.

A sudden melancholy washes over me, the painful reminder of why I'm here is palpable.

I feel my face fall and I know that Peeta sees it, too. "What's wrong?"

"Can I ask you to do something?" I say suddenly.

Peeta nods, eager to help. "Anything."

I move closer to him, taking off the heels I'm wearing, and rest my head to his chest.

"Can you just hold me?"

The question comes wistfully through my lips and from the deep crevices of that thing that's classified as my heart. I know I'm going to be hurt. But, isn't it better to be hurt just so I can feel that little bit of humanity in me?

Then maybe I'd be worthy enough for someone like Peeta.

He doesn't respond, instead wrapping his arms around me, and bringing his lips to my hair.

I am safe. I'll do anything to keep him safe.

It hasn't been a week and I've fallen in love with Peeta Mellark.

* * *

My eyes snap open.

I don't know how long we've been asleep but Peeta's arms are still around me, my own arms around his waist.

"Peeta?" I whisper into his ear. He rouses slowly, opening his eyes. I watch those blues brighten at the sight of me and the quiet heat begins to coil in my stomach. Peeta reaches over, his hand going to my face so he can brush his hand against my cheek. I fade into him, letting it all happen and savoring what's left of this moment. "Come to bed."

He starts. "Are you sure? I can go home—"

I shake my head. "No, it should be tonight."

"Why?"

"Because…" I don't have a reason so I say the first thing that comes out of my mouth. "I want this to be real."

"Katniss," he begins. "I haven't known you that long, but something tells me that you're it for me and now that I have you, I'm not letting go."

I shake my head at him. "You don't know what you're asking for, Peeta."

"Then, tell me," Peeta asks.

"Please…" I lean forward, covering his mouth with mine. I don't want to talk. I just want to feel him against me. "...let's just go."

"Okay," he accepts against my lips. "I'd follow you anywhere, Katniss."

Standing up, I take his hand and lead him up the steps to my room. My voice shakes when I ask him to unzip my dress.

I'm nervous as hell—like some damn teenager on prom night.

His hands are warm as he pushes the straps of my dress off. I feel his own nervous breath against my hair and then on the side of my neck. Spikes of electricity dance along my spine and I push back, feeling him solid against me.

"You're so beautiful," he says into my skin. "I can't believe that someone like you wants someone like me."

I turn to him slowly, letting the dress slide off me. He groans seeing the black mesh panties and demi-cupped bra that holds my breasts.

"What do you mean?" I ask, my hands undoing the buttons of his shirt. Reaching underneath, I run my hands along his shoulders before moving the shirt off of him. In the darkness, I catch that slight richness of his skin. "You're like a fucking Greek statue. It's almost ridiculous!"

Peeta laughs at my indignant words. "I appreciate it." My hand reaches to the undo the clasp of my bra and he watches, his jaw falling as I reveal my puckered nipples to his heated ocean eyes. "You're…" His hand goes to my shoulder as he dips down to kiss me, his thumb moving over my skin. "…don't make me fall in love with you."

My hands go to his pants, undoing them easily. "Is that what breasts do to you?"

I eye him coyly beneath my lacquered eyelashes. For all the crap that Cashmere taught me, she perfected that look—the kind that made people melt into nothing.

But the way Peeta is staring at me—bare chest heaving and eyes dark with hunger—gives her a run for her money.

"Yours specifically," Peeta says and I snort. He grins, drawing me into his arms and leading me to bed. I move under my comforter, taking my panties off—the last piece of clothing that keeps him from taking me wholly. Removing his pants, he joins me in bed and our eyes meet. He swallows slowly. "Last chance."

I cross that invisible line, touching his handsome face, and memorizing those features.

They'll haunt me in my dreams.

The gun is inside my side table. I just need to find the right moment.

Peeta closes his eyes, letting me caress him. I press myself to him so he can take in my hard nipples, my rapidly pulsating heart and, taking his hand, I bring his fingers inside my welcoming flesh.

He moans, his eyes shooting open to stare at me. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think?" My hand goes inside his boxers to pull him out, wrapping my own hand around his length, hard and velveteen, and moving my thumb over the tip. "You seem to like it."

"More than like," Peeta tells me. "I'm just afraid."

I panic, my eyes going to him. "Did I do something wrong?"

He shakes his head, wrapping his arms around my shoulders to bring me closer to him.

"No," he says. "I'm just afraid that we're moving so fast. That you'll get overwhelmed."

I nod, digesting his words. "Can I tell you a story?"

"Sure." We maneuver ourselves so my head is on his chest, one leg around his pelvis. "Tell me a story."

"My best friend and her mentor fell in love with each other," I begin as I lose myself in Johanna and Gale's story. "They made all these plans, spent so much time thinking of the future that they didn't think of the moments in front of them. Then he was in an accident and it was too late. I still remember her cries as she held his body—all that time wasted when they should've just took what they had and enjoyed it."

I look to him, my own eyes starting to fill. Sometimes I still hear Johanna crying in her bed, usually after she sends away her nameless trysts. Because I know, as does she, that no one is going to feel as right as Gale did in her arms.

"Their relationship taught me that I can't depend on the future and I have to take what is right in front me. I have to gather these hopeful moments and run with them," I say against him. "I don't want to live a half-life, even if it's felt like that since I lost my parents."

My whole life, I've never been whole.

Haymitch and Effie have tried to fill that void, but there's always that hollowness of not knowing my biological parents.

"So in theory, we're not moving too fast," Peeta concludes. "We're living in the moment, taking what we can." I nod and he turns to face me, his eyes unreadable in the darkness. I'm faintly aware of him pulling his boxers off his hips as I nod. "I'm taking you, Katniss." His hands move along the outer side of the thigh draped around his hip and I feel his tip at the edge of my outer lips, teasing me and causing me to go wet against him. "You're mine—" He drives into me and I bend back at the snapping pleasure of our joining, moaning as he fills me. "—always."

"Yes…" My mouth is on his as we move slowly, relishing in the feeling of being completely wrapped up in one another. "I'm yours, Peeta…you're mine…" He moans his agreement into the curve of my neck. "…always." He hikes my leg higher as I move against him insistent for a climax. "Oh God, I love you…"

This is wrong, so wrong.

I'm not supposed to love anyone, especially him. I'm not supposed to be coming all over him, pulsating around him, and milking him dry. I'm not supposed to be wishing that somehow I'll have his baby despite the shot that renders me temporarily sterile.

Selfishly, I want what I can't have.

I pretend to be asleep when he presses kisses to my hair, onto my bare back, and to my hands.

"I love you, Katniss," he whispers to my pseudo-sleeping form. "I didn't believe in love at first sight until you. I'm a goner."

Never have such true last words been spoken.

* * *

It's nearly three in the morning when I wake up. I look to my side to see Peeta, asleep on his stomach.

Getting up, I put on a robe and use the bathroom.

My eyes go to the person in the mirror, lips swollen and hair up in every which direction. Peeta is all over me, his marks on my neck and his essence in-between my thighs. I examine every part of myself, memorizing where his hands have been so I can always remember.

The reflection in front of me begins to sob as the sudden pain of my lungs closing up has me doubling over.

He's going to notice I'm gone soon.

It's time.

Quickly turning off the light of the bathroom, I step out and go to my drawer. Pulling the pistol out, I undo the safety and go to the front of my bed.

My hand shakes as I raise my arm, willing myself to calm down.

I take a deep breath, doing the only thing I can think of distract myself.

" _But if by chance you're here alone  
Can I have a moment before I go?  
'Cause I've been by myself all night long  
Hoping you're someone I used to know…_"

I blink, tears trailing down my cheeks and pull back on the release as I sing the last bits of the song that I was listening to when I first met Peeta.

I don't even notice the barrel being pointed at me.

"How much do you love him, Katniss?" My best friend questions from behind me.

"What are you doing?" I ask easily. "I have a job to do."

She pushes the barrel to the back of my head. "I'm asking you a question."

"I love him enough to let you blow my brain away just so I can save him," I respond. "Because I'd be half-dead without him."

"You moron." I hear the exasperation in her voice.

"Katniss?"

I look in front of me to see Peeta sitting up, his eyes wide. I can't even imagine how it must look like: me pointing a gun at him and Johanna pointing a gun at me.

I lower the gun, my gaze going downward. "I told you that you didn't know me."

"How much do you love her?" Johanna asks him. "Trust her?"

"I trust her with my life." I look up to see him gazing at me, his eyes earnest. "I know that what I feel is real. I know her. Even if we've only just met, I've known her from lifetimes before. So you should shoot me instead, I don't think I was even alive until I met her. I don't want to be in a world without her."

"Oh fucking hell," Johanna mutters.

Two shots go off.

* * *

It's been five years since the murders of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.

They say it was a jealous ex-boyfriend, the amount of blood at the crime scene so gruesome that several police officers were sick to their stomachs. Someone had beaten their faces in so badly that they were practically unrecognizable.

They were deemed "Star-Crossed Lovers" by the papers, their short relationship showing so much promise. Who knew what could have happened if they survived the massacre? Maybe they would've married, had children, and raised them in Panem until they grew old. Maybe they would've traveled the world, finally settling on their dream home, and married under the light of the moon.

They were mourned by thousands, people driving into the small town of Panem and packing into the church where they were eulogized. Katniss has been a kind-hearted girl with humanitarian ideals while Peeta had been a pillar of strength to the town, dedicated to his students.

There was talk that it was all a set-up by Burton Cray, who Peeta was planning to testify against. Cray laughed it off knowing that there was no way to connect him to the killing since he was in jail at the time. Confidently, he believed that he would be getting off scot-free.

Unfortunately, Cray didn't think of Peeta transcribing his account of Cray smuggling children into the States to sell for a variety of reasons, including prostitution and slavery. Ten video tapes of Peeta at his home describing the events were found along with the signed affidavit by his lawyer, Marvel Smith, who presented the tapes on the day of the trial.

Cray is currently doing ten consecutive lifetime sentences.

Who knew what Katniss and Peeta could have been?

I know.

I know who they are.

My mind pulls back from the memories as the boat that I stand on, starts to slow.

"Ma'am?" I turn to the attendant. "We're about to dock. Do you have bags in the stowaway, Miss…?"

"Everdeen," I respond. "Primrose Everdeen." I shake my head at him. "I only have this." I hold up my small duffle.

"Are you visiting family?"

I look out at the dock where a dark-haired woman and blond man wave at me. Jumping excitedly in front of them is a little girl with eyes so blue that I can see them even from the mile or two that separate us from land.

"My sister and brother-in-law," I respond simply. "My sister is expecting a baby any day now and someone has to keep my niece busy."

The man smiles at me, his dark eyes looking over at me appreciatively.

I'm only 15, but I know that I exude a bit of wisdom and mystery in me.

My sister taught me well.

She taught me how to act distraught, how to pretend to identify her "body" at the morgue. How to keep a straight face over the fact that Beetee and Wiress were able to place her and Peeta's DNA as well as fingerprints in cadavers stolen from some place that we'd rather not know about.

"They are lucky to have you then," the man replies. "No one ever comes to this island. There are only two boat trips out here annually."

"I don't plan on leaving for a while," I respond as the boat begins to dock. "Our eldest sister is on her honeymoon right now anyway and I live with her so I'd rather hang out here than be in that large house by myself."

Johanna's rather quickie marriage to Marvel was due to the fact that both were celebrating their promotions at the Academy and had a little too much to drink, causing neither to realize that the sterility shots we were given were no longer lingering in their systems.

Haymitch and Effie are currently watching their twins as the newlyweds explore Rome.

"Aunt Prim!"

Waving goodbye to the attendant, I quickly pick up the dark-haired four-year-old as soon as I step onto the dock.

"Miss Amelia Adele!" I kiss her cheeks as she blanches at my use of both of her names. "How are you?"

"I can climb a tree by myself," Mia responds proudly.

"Not that we let her," Katniss tells me as she pulls me into a hug. "You're getting tall."

"You're getting huge," I retort and she gives me the finger behind Mia's back.

"Well, it's Peeta's baby," she responds before looking at her husband affectionately. "All legs. What did you expect?"

Peeta takes my bag before drawing me into a strong hug. "I wasn't the one walking around in a new bikini, eight months ago."

"This is all Johanna's fault then!" I conclude as we walk towards the small home in the tiny borough of District 12.

Johanna during her travels often presents me or Katniss with lovely clothing pieces. I saw the barely there bikini before Johanna sent it and I definitely don't have the breasts to fill it.

Katniss does and Peeta obviously appreciates this fact.

"Isn't it always?" Katniss responds. Her hand goes to her stomach before she puts an arm around me. "Though thank goodness, she's so good at ballistic shooting."

Precise enough that the police didn't even bat an eyelash at the distance logistics or suspect any foul play, giving Katniss and Peeta enough time to flee the country.

In front of us, Peeta and Mia, who is sitting on her father's shoulders, sing " _Rolling in the Deep_ " in Spanish.

"Yeah." I rest my head on my sister's shoulder. "Thank goodness."

 **FIN.**

Songs:

"When We Were Young"-Adele


	2. Take My Hand, A Follow-Up

Take My Hand, a follow-up to "When We Were Young"

"Oh fucking hell," Johanna mutters. "Move aside, Katniss"

Immediately, I whip around and point my own pistol.

My mentor snorts and with her free hand grabs my wrist, pressing her thumb to the corner of it, and my hand instinctively releases my hold. The pistol hits the carpet and Johanna shakes her head at me, an amused laugh escaping her mouth.

"You didn't even try," she says to me. "You think you can bullshit a bullshitter?"

"Don't kill him," I plea with her. "If you do—" I move my foot, kick the pistol up in my direction, and easily catch it. I raise it to my temple. "I'm right after him."

"Seriously, you're so melodramatic." Johanna looks over to Peeta, still in my bed, and looking very confused about what is happening. "Did you know that? If you did, you probably wouldn't mind getting shot."

"Actually, ma'am, I wouldn't want to get shot at all," Peeta replies carefully. He looks over at me. "I'd at least want an explanation."

Johanna groans. Obviously, she is charmed by him but Johanna is not one to take emotions into account.

Neither was I—until I met Peeta.

"Do me a favor, Peeta. Move your head to the left," she says.

He does as he's told, moving his mussed-haired head in the requested direction.

 _BANG._

The first shot happens quickly, just inches from where his head was.

Johanna swivels to where my pillow is— _BANG_.

The room is covered in pillow feathers.

Putting the gun down, Johanna reaches into her pocket and takes her phone out. She speaks quickly into it and I make out the word 'compromised'.

Afterwards, Johanna looks between us, her expression stern. "Put your shoes on. We have to go."

* * *

"Say something," I ask Peeta as we sit in the sedan with blacked-out windows.

"What is going on?"

He doesn't look upset—a little more hurt, actually. Who could blame him?

His supposed girlfriend just tried to shoot him and failed miserably.

"I was on assignment," I begin. "I was supposed to kill you."

Peeta digests the news slowly. I can see it in his eyes—the gradual comprehension of my words.

There's disbelief, anger, pain and, after a very long moment, resignation.

"Then what?" he finally says.

"I fell in love with you."

There's a sudden cough from the driver's seat and I turn to see Marvel trying not to glance in the rearview mirror. Johanna, in the front passenger's seat, reaches over to the back of his head and her fingers move up the nape of his neck. She seizes a patch of his hair to hold him in place and keep him from looking.

Or, maybe it's some weird sex thing between them.

I look to Peeta. "We can figure something out for you. But you should know that it's likely that you'll have to leave the country, take on a new identity, and your family as well as your friends will have to think you're dead. There is someone who wants you gone—"

His eyes go cold. "Cray."

I nod in confirmation. "He has people on both the inside and outside of the system. If he knew you were alive, then you might as well stand outside his prison cell and hand him a gun."

Taking a deep breath, I look down at my clasped hands before continuing.

"I know you're confused and upset about all of this. You're probably angry at me. Why wouldn't you be? I attempted to kill you and I understand if you don't want to have anything to do with me. But it's important to me that you stay alive."

Everything goes quiet—too quiet.

Well, except for the sound of my heart being ripped from my chest.

I've lost Peeta.

Lost him by causing him to never trust my words, to never trust my feelings, to never trust me.

Then suddenly, his hand covers mine.

The warmth of his touch leaves me breathless. "Why is it so important that I stay alive?"

I look up to see him gazing at me expectantly.

"Because she loves you, dumbass!" Johanna interrupts from the front.

I whip around at her, my brows furrowing in annoyance.

"I swear to God, Johanna! If you didn't give my pistol to Ballistics, I'd shoot you right now!"

She looks to Peeta, a smirk on her face. "She's volatile, too. You think you could love someone like her?"

Peeta squeezes my hand. "I can…I do."

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I move onto his lap and my arms wind around his neck.

"Ask me again," I say to him.

His arms wrap around my waist. "Why is it so important that I stay alive?"

I rest my forehead to his. "Because I love you."

* * *

"Where's Prim?"

Johanna marches in front of Peeta and me into the Academy. "Marvel has already gone ahead to get her."

"Where are we?" Peeta asks. He grips my hand as we walk down the stately halls, passing a window where training is being conducted. We both catch a glimpse of a young girl, around Prim's age, throwing her partner down on the ground. "What was that?"

"Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I think." I squeeze his hand. "We'll get to all of this soon."

When we reach Haymitch's office, Johanna opens the door and lets us in first.

"Katniss!"

Effie jumps from her seat and rushes to embrace me. I know it's only been about a week, but I've missed her.

I let go of Peeta's hand to wrap my arms around her and feel the rise of happy tears.

"You don't know how good it is to see you, Effie." We pull away and she reaches to affectionately thumb my tears away. "Being outside has made me soft."

My pseudo-mother laughs gently, her eyes looking behind me. "Obviously."

Turning, I present Peeta to her. "Effie, this is Peeta Mellark." Peeta walks over nervously. "Peeta, this is Effie Abernathy. She runs the Academy…and is the only mother I've ever known."

Effie looks to me, her eyes full of tears, before going to Peeta.

"It's nice to meet you, Peeta." She gives him an affectionate hug. "So you're the one who's taken down the Mockingjay."

He looks to me. "Who is the Mockingjay?"

"Katniss is the Mockingjay," a stern voice interrupts.

Haymitch has just stepped into the room, his slate eyes expressionless.

He waves his hand to the seats in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

Taking Peeta's hand once more, we head over to sit in front of Haymitch's desk. He doesn't look necessarily happy to see either of us. However, I can't blame him. I have never failed an assignment. I've cost him a shitload of money for the Academy.

Worst of all, I might have cost Johanna her chance to teach.

"So…" Haymitch sits down at his desk. "The date went well."

Behind me, Johanna stifles a laugh.

I turn to see her covering her mouth. Beside her, Effie is holding in her own smile.

Looking back to Haymitch, I see that his face has softened.

"Do you know how much trouble you're in, young lady?" Haymitch asks.

I give him a mocking pout. "Yes, Dad."

He snickers. "Despite all of this, we have missed you." Haymitch looks over to Peeta. "However, there's something we have to do about you."

"Sir, I don't know what the hell is going on," Peeta starts. "I went on a date, it went well, and I wake up with a gun pointed at me and someone pointing a gun at my girl."

"Wasn't your girl pointing the gun at you?" My boss counters.

"Well…yes." Peeta reaches over and takes my hand. "I knew she didn't want to though. She was doing her job. I know about Cray. I know how much money you're supposed to be getting for killing me. I know that Johanna is supposed to get a promotion. I know all of this. But what I don't know is what all of this is or where I am—or, where I'm going."

"That is a lot of information," Haymitch says to him. "I have one question for you."

Peeta straightens. "Okay."

"Do you love Katniss?"

"I've loved her since the day that I knocked her over," Peeta replies, meeting Haymitch's stare straight on. "Even then, I think she would've killed me…she was so pissed." He smiles to himself. "But, I would've died if I didn't know her. Or, see her smile. Or, kiss her."

Haymitch nods once. Behind us, I can hear Effie sniffling.

"I'm not saying this to be a dick," Haymitch says bluntly. "But there are sacrifices to knowing what you know and wanting to be with Katniss. As of this moment, cops are now investigating your murder as well as Katniss'. Your family will be notified of your death. Panem will no longer be considered the safe town it once was."

He folds his hands on his desk.

"If you so choose, we can have you completely altered—plastic surgery…hair dye…the works—and we can give you a new identity. I would need you to sign an affidavit stating that you will not talk about the Academy, our identities, or your past identity—"

"No!" Peeta suddenly shouts. "I'm not doing that! I am Peeta Mellark! My name is the only thing I have now. I intend to live and die with this name." He looks over at me, his eyes full. "I won't give Katniss up either. I know that this is going to be hard. I know the sacrifices and I thought about it the whole way here. Katniss gave me the option to leave as well. I lost everything else—I won't lose her."

"Then what do you suggest?" Haymitch asks him.

Peeta shifts off his chair, falling to his knee in front of me.

"Katniss, will you marry me?"

* * *

"Katniss!" Prim rushes over to me, her arms wrapping around my waist. I kiss the top of her head. "I was so worried when Marvel came to Rue's house as a police officer…" She looks over at Peeta sitting on the couch of our suite and grins. "So the date went well."

I nod and laugh hearing her repeat Haymitch's words.

"Too well, apparently," I respond and then meet Peeta's eyes. He nods at me before going back to the file that he's reading—a transcript in regards to his assassination. On the coffee table is the prenuptial agreement that Haymitch presented to Peeta, along with his permission to marry me. "I got you a big brother."

Prim hugs me again. "I knew it!" Then she skips over to Peeta and he puts the file down to give her a hug. Tugging him back to me on the bed, Prim sits between us. "So when are you two going to get married? Can I be a bridesmaid?"

"I don't think we're there quite yet," Peeta tells her affectionately. "It is nice to be a big brother. I'm the youngest of three brothers…or at least I was."

The happiness fades from his eyes and I look to Prim. "Could you give us a minute?"

She nods and stands. "Of course. I'm actually going to head off to bed." After giving me a hug, Prim turns to Peeta and embraces him. "Peeta, if it helps, I'm still considered alive. I can keep an eye on your family."

Peeta gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks…sis."

Blushing, Prim rushes out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I scoot over to sit next to Peeta. "I know that this isn't easy on you. Actually, it must be downright devastating," I say. "I wish I knew how to fix it. I wish I could understand what you're going through, but I can't. I don't even remember my own family."

"What about Prim?" he asks in small voice.

"She's not my biological sister," I explain. "Before being assigned to you, I didn't even know her. She was a new recruit. However, like I did with you, I fell in love with Prim."

"Recruit…" Peeta muses. "It's so strange because when I look at Prim, I swear I see your smile. Even the way she talks with her hands is just like you."

"Will you tell me about your family?" I ask him. "I'll tell you about my—well, this family."

I wave my hand over our surroundings. Our room is elegant with fleur-de-lys wallpaper and red velvet bedding—the most romantic room in the Academy, according to Effie, though I don't know how or want to know how she would know that.

"We should probably know about our families—" Peeta smiles half-heartedly. Clearly, the wear and tear of today has gotten to him. "—seeing as we will be one whenever the time comes."

I nod and stand up. "Let's go somewhere."

Once he is up, I lead us out of our room and into the hallway of the residential sector of the Academy. This is where all the teachers who choose to live on the premises—or any big time donors—stay. The mahogany walls are lined with paintings; Monet and Degas are particular favorites of Effie.

"I didn't know that this place even existed," Peeta says as we walk past closed doors. "We only traveled for five hours. How does nobody notice it?"

"We're along the coast," I explain. "Everything around us is privately owned so there is fencing around the perimeter of the property. The government has us listed as the private residence of one of our donors."

Peeta looks to me in surprise. "You have donors?"

I open a door leading to the outside. "We have donors."

Leading him onto the grounds, we make our way further out until we get a whole view of the Academy. I bring Peeta to my favorite place—the small gazebo by the sea.

"This is nice," he remarks as we step into it and turn to look at the up-lit brick building.

"I'm still amazed every time I look at the Academy at night," I say. "It's looks a little like that place on that PBS show that Prim was telling me about…something Abbey."

" _Downton Abbey_?" Peeta suggests. He looks back at the building. "I can see that."

"How do you know about _Downton Abbey_?" I ask him with a grin.

"Some of the faculty at Panem Elementary had viewing parties and they would invite me," he explains. "I went to one or two of them, but could never seem to get into the story."

"At least I'm not the only person off the grid." I lean against one of the pillars. "Prim had to tell me about _The Princess Diaries_ , which apparently is a movie that everyone has seen."

"Anne Hathaway has been in a few more movies since then," Peeta says. "So tell me about this gazebo." His hand touches the pillar to his side. "Why did you pick this to show me?"

"Because this is the only place where I found peace amongst the craziness," I explain. "It gets so hectic here sometimes. So busy with classes and kids…with training…and you can never just find quiet." I turn to walk to the middle of the gazebo. "But here, it's perfect."

Peeta moves slowly towards me. His eyes glittering in the darkness as he roves over me; I feel that rush of a hunger take over. This feeling is still unfamiliar. There are a number of things I've never felt until Peeta came into my life—desire…completeness…love.

His arm encircles my waist and he presses me close. Cinna had a few things in the main wardrobe that he gave to Peeta. The jeans and green sweater fit him perfectly, well enough for me to still feel every toned plane on his body.

"I haven't kissed you all day," he says to me. "You are my fiancée."

"And, you're mine," I reply. Drawing away, I move back into the darker part of the gazebo and beckon him with my index finger. "Come here."

Peeta immediately crosses the space between us, pressing me against the back pillar as our lips meet in a frantic kiss. It's as if we haven't felt each other in a lifetime, when it was just last night that he was inside me. He tastes of safety and comfort, of protection and completion, of hope and of love.

My hands move along his sweater, feeling his heat through the weave of it.

He tears his mouth away, heaving as my hands move to the top button of his jeans. "What are you doing?"

"I miss you," I tell him. "When we go back in there, we'll be watched—not in our room, but everywhere else."

"Oh." Peeta chuckles though his eyes are focused on the movement of my hands bringing his zipper down. "So I suppose that I can't just stop you in a hallway and do this?"

He leans forward, pressing his open mouth to my neck and sucking roughly. I squirm feeling the wetness gathering between my thighs.

"No…" My eyes close as Peeta moves up my neck and towards my ear. "…definitely not that."

Thank God I'm wearing a wrap dress. He wouldn't even have to take my panties off.

For the millionth time, I tell myself to thank Johanna for giving me the finer points on lingerie and unsupervised spots on the grounds.

"How about this?" Peeta lifts me and my legs wrap around his waist. I feel his bare skin against my center and realize that somewhere in-between our quiet caresses he's moved his jeans off. His cock brushes against that tiny bit of cloth covering my slit and I arch to urge him inside. "Will you allow it?"

"Yes," I whisper into the darkness. "This is already my favorite place in the world and now I want it to be yours."

Peeta yanks the covering on my soaked pussy and plunges into me hurriedly.

"Fuck," he hisses. I moan in agreement, too lost in the sensation of feeling him hard and deep inside me. "I love you, Katniss."

"I love you," I tell him breathlessly. "God, you feel amazing…" He draws out before thrusting back in and the sensation causes me to grind my pelvis into his, feeling the roughness of him on my clit. "More…"

"I don't think that I'm going to last," he tells me, his eyes desperate. "Not if we keep going on like this."

I can feel my insides spasm, the pressure of him against my clit in sync with our rushed movements.

"I'm not going to either…fuck!" A moan escapes my mouth and I clamp around his cock, drawing him deeper just as he fills me, hot and thick, with his come. We remain this way for a moment, my lips pressed against his neck. "Oh God…is it always going to be this way?"

We both sink to the floor, breathless and sated.

"I don't think I've ever come this quickly." Hastily, we fix our clothing before Peeta looks to me with a sheepish smile. "Please don't think that this has anything to do with future performances."

I chuckle lightly, my head going to his shoulder. "I came first. All this adrenaline." My eyes go to the Academy. "Everything is going to change tomorrow."

"I know…I'm dead," Peeta says quietly. I look to him, my hand reaching to his cheek. "You think my parents will be okay?"

"It's going to be tough," I answer truthfully. "Life sometimes chooses to give you challenges that you have no choice but to endure. They make you stronger, braver, and appreciative of the calmer moments."

"And, my brothers," he continues. "Brayden is three years older than me, he's a cop and he's been with the same girl since forever. Now I'll never know if he marries her. Rye is a year older than me and his fiancée is having a baby. He kept on telling me to invite you to his house for dinner…"

Peeta bursts into a sudden sob and I pull him close. He needs to get it all out. It will drive him insane if he keeps it all inside.

"Sweetheart, I promise that we will find a way to keep track of them," I tell him. "Everything I can do, I will do."

"I know," he heaves into my shoulder. "Katniss, please don't think that I regret any of this. It's a crazy love story we have, but it's ours. I just hate that it all went down this way and there are going to be days—like their birthdays or my parents' wedding anniversary—that are going to be hard on me."

"I know." I take his hand, kissing the top of his knuckles. "I'll be here. When you need me to be here, then tell me and when you want me to leave you alone, then tell me that, too. Though I think in time, I'll understand what you need."

"You already do," Peeta tells me. "If I wake up next to you, then it'll be okay."

I press a kiss to his parched lips. "You have an amazing faith, Peeta Mellark."

"You made me believe, Katniss Everdeen soon-to-be-Mellark." He looks to me. "Is Everdeen even your real last name?"

"No." I give him a shaky smile. "I don't know my last name. I don't know my family."

"You have family." Peeta gives me soft kiss, filling me with comfort. "Inside there and sitting right next to you."

"Will there be more of us?"

I think of that moment in my bathroom when I wished that I would have his child.

Now it's possible and the thought of carrying our baby—something purely Peeta and me—fills me with a want I never knew I had.

"As many as you want," he replies. "We can have a 'Brady Bunch' if you want."

"Brady Bunch?" I look to him. "What is that?"

"The television show?" Peeta tilts his head at me. "Marcia…Greg…Jan…any of these names ringing a bell?"

"Nope."

"What have you been doing?" He looks back at the Academy—the one where I was trained to kill people. "Never mind."

"Three tops," I tell him. "I want them to have your smile, too."

Peeta nods. "Sure, if they have your hair."

"Fine." I sigh in mock-exasperation and Peeta chuckles. "You know that if they're all girls that we'll be knee-deep in hair products."

"One more thing," he says. "I want us to get married here."

"Here in the Academy?"

I can almost imagine Effie's planning. She lives for this kind of thing. Half of the Academy's events are due to her overzealous imagination and well-thought organization.

"Here in this gazebo." Peeta looks around it before meeting my eyes. "I feel like we didn't really get to do the whole date thing the first time. But this felt like something that people do on a date—minus the stress-relieving and amazing sex—the getting to know each other part and all."

I press my lips to his before resting my head on his shoulder. "That sounds perfect."

* * *

 _One Week Later…_

"Prim did a spectacular job," Beetee remarks as we sit in the Academy's IT office. "I was able to tap into the County Coroner's system and check out the recording of her identifying your body. They were a bit sloppy however. Never even compared your dental records or anything. However, I made sure to change them to match the cadaver's teeth structure." He looks over at me. "Did you want to watch?"

"Why not?" I shift in my seat. "I taught her everything she knows."

Beetee nods before typing into his keyboard once more. The recording pulls up the screen and I see Prim along with Johanna or 'Betty' as her CPS identification states, in front of the window where my supposed body is displayed.

The coroner pulls back the sheet and I grimace as there is not much face of "me" left. However, the scar on the fake Katniss' hand matches the one I have on my own from an old burn that happen at my former foster home.

" _NO! Katniss!"_ Prim is screaming and struggling against Johanna. _"Why would he do this to her?"_

She falls apart into sloppy sobs against my mentor who looks to the cop next to them with a resigned nod. This is an actual official Panem cop who shakes his head and takes off his hat in respect.

Beetee looks to me curiously. "He?"

"We were going for the jealous ex-boyfriend angle," I explain. "So he is someone we've already taken down. You know who would be a good choice-"

"Cato," Beetee says immediately. "Good background—the overzealous drug smuggler who likes young girls. Cocky and easily jealous. When did you finish that job?"

"Six months ago," I say. "We also have footage of him."

"That should be easy to integrate into an airport's surveillance footage." Beetee jots down some notes on his log before looking to me once more. "I also have some other footage—of Peeta's parents. If you want to check it out, I can pull it up."

There's a knock and the door opens with Wiress, who deals with the scientific aspect of our operation, peeks her head inside. Peeta stands behind her and gives me a wave. Wiress took him for a tour of the perimeter, probably showing the invisible force field that detracts cars as well as people from seeing the Academy.

"How did it go?" I ask as they walk in. I jump from my seat to give Peeta a quick kiss.

"You have a smart fiancé," Wiress tells me. "He got the wave sequence for the force field down in about thirty minutes."

I look to Peeta. "Wave sequence?"

"It's how you can tell that there's a blockage," Peeta explains. "Every five minutes, there's a single surge. If I'm right, the big surge is around three in the morning."

"Exactly. The system calibrates for ten minutes," Wiress tells him. "Usually, no one will be wandering around but we're prepared if someone does."

"How?"

"Something that mimics coastal fog will overtake the vicinity, causing confusion to the person or driver. That's quickly followed by a 'police officer' guiding them away," she informs him.

"That's a sucky shift." I add. "I did not enjoy my time as Officer Jenny."

"Drunken boys will be drunken boys," Beetee responds with a chuckle.

"Drunken boys will be handcuffed and left at a nearby police station." I turn to see Peeta. "Bachelor party. They got a little handsy and I had to cuff them together."

"Still have the cuffs?" Peeta quips.

"Trust me, you don't want to go there." I look over to Beetee's blank screen. "I was about to view something. However, if you don't want me to, then I won't."

He gazes at me worriedly. "What is it?"

"Your parent's visit to the Coroner's office," Beetee tells him solemnly. "We usually do this to make sure that we've done everything right with birthmarks, tattoos, etc. on the cadaver."

"Cadaver?" Peeta looks between Wiress and Beetee. "Like the kind used in Anatomy class?"

"A fresher version." Wiress' words are carefully calculated. "Though there is some time that we need to prep for alterations."

"Glad I asked," my fiancé says wryly. Peeta looks to me. "Should I see this?"

"I don't know," I reply truthfully. "I trained Prim to act a certain way during my identification. For people who aren't prepared, like your family, it's different—much rawer and very painful."

Peeta closes his eyes for a moment and I take his hand letting him grip it firmly.

It's a warzone in his head—he's curious, but he knows that it can break him if he sees.

After a moment, he opens his eyes—though they are a little damper. "No. I don't want to see."

I nod before giving him a full kiss. "Okay. Dinner should be getting started if you want to join the kids or you can just have dinner brought to our suite. I'll be there before bed."

Peeta nods, giving me a weak smile. He says goodbye to Beetee and Wiress before quickly leaving the room.

"Does he need something to help him sleep?" Wiress asks.

I shake my head. "I'm sure I'll figure something out if he can't."

Beetee snorts. "I bet you will."

Sitting down once more, I nod. "Go ahead."

Peeta's parents choose to not look through the window. I am also surprised that Peeta's brothers are there as well. Brayden is tall; his nose is sharper than Peeta's, but they share the same square-chinned face shape. Rye is stockier; his hair a darker shade of blond but his eyes are the same as Peeta's.

It's difficult to look at 'Peeta's body' much more than my own fake one; the cadaver's face is just as much of a mess as mine was.

Peeta's mother screams, she wails, and she holds her son's cold hand. She can hardly stand, falling to her knees in a flurry of incoherent sobs.

I catch some of her words.

" _My baby…Why?...This can't be real…"_

My hand reaches to her screen image.

"It's not real," I find myself whispering.

Peeta's father is a handsome man. I foresee Peeta looking a lot like him when he gets older. He doesn't scream like his wife does. However, he looks down at the body and he bows his head, obscuring his face from the camera's view. However, I can see his shoulders quaking with his harsh sobs.

Brayden wipes his eyes looking down at his brother. He helps his mother up off the ground and then pulls his father away before gathering them in his long arms. Clearly, he is the stoic one—though I recognize the emptiness in his eyes when he looks briefly at the cadaver.

Rye is the one who intrigues me the most. He looks in disbelief at his 'brother's' body.

Reaching forward, I see him take 'Peeta's' hand, rubbing his thumb along the thumb on the cadaver. His brows furrow for just a split second and he stares as if he is trying to recall something.

After a moment, Rye joins his family.

A tingle rushes up my spine and I realize that Rye knows that the body isn't Peeta's.

I don't mention it to Beetee or Wiress.

That night, however, as we lay in bed, I look to Peeta.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but I saw something weird during your family's surveillance footage. Rye moved his thumb along the cadaver's and he just stared...as if he knew it wasn't you."

Tears fill Peeta's eyes and he presents his thumb to me. A gasp escapes my mouth when I see him rotate it almost off his joint.

"Rye and I use to go to parties in college together," he says in a choked voice. "It was this dumb thing I used to do to impress girls—he was the only one who knew I could do it."

"Oh." I wipe a tear away. "Then I guess he felt the difference." Giving him a small smile, I push up to kiss him gently. "I didn't tell Beetee and Wiress. Even if your brother thinks nothing of it, I wanted to give him some semblance of hope."

"Thank you, Katniss." Peeta reaches to the nape of my neck, drawing down into a deep kiss. When we pull away, I see the haze of want in his eyes. "If we met in college and I did that trick—would you have fallen for me?"

"Probably not," I tell him with a chuckle. "But we would've hooked up, anyway."

He laughs at my words. "Oh really?"

I straddle him, pulling my nightgown over my head, and let his eyes rove over my body, followed by his hands.

Leaning down, I kiss him once more.

"Really."

* * *

 _Two Months Later…_

"So what do you think?"

Effie is holding a swatch of cream-colored lace out to me as I eat my bowl of cereal in front of the mirror. Johanna is looking through the dresses on the nearby rack that are potential bridesmaid dresses. Prim is doing her homework as she sits on Effie and Haymitch's couch.

"Uh…it looks nice," I reply, my mouth still full of cereal. "That little bit that is on me, anyway."

"You're so distracted." Effie takes the bowl from me and puts it on her vanity. "You've had enough."

"I'm starving!" I protest.

"You had two bowls this morning," Johanna remarks with a grin. She holds a short little red number in front of her slender body. "Peeta working you out?"

"Johanna!" Effie shoots a look at Prim. "We have a little one in the room."

"Effie, Prim is a Grade 2 assassin," my friend and mentor retorts. "I'm sure that she knows a little bit about the birds and the bees." Johanna looks over at Prim. "Unless there is something that you're curious about?"

Prim closes her notebook. "Actually, I do have a question." She turns to us. "How do you know that you're pregnant?"

Effie freezes at her words and slowly looks in Prim's direction.

"Please tell me that you're asking out of pure curiosity, Primrose."

Prim's blue eyes widen before she lets out a laugh. "Of course, Effie!"

I chuckle as Effie fans herself dramatically. "You almost gave Effie a heart attack, little sister."

"Sorry," Prim says. "So...is anyone going to answer my question?"

"I wouldn't know," Johanna starts. "But, I've heard there's nausea, food cravings, your boobs hurt…"

"And, there's a certain look that a woman gets," Effie adds slowly. "Like a glow. Even without knowing it, she feels the need to protect herself and the little one inside her."

Prim looks to me. "Katniss?"

I shake my head and give her a smile. "I wouldn't have any knowledge on that, sweetheart. Is something going on? I know that you're getting older and the hormones are getting a little out of whack…"

"It's not that." She walks over to me, her hands going to my shoulders. "It's this."

Turning me towards the mirror, I stare at our reflections trying to see what she is seeing.

Prim has grown an inch or two, the roundness in her cheeks is slowly melting away revealing the sharp point of her heart-shaped face. She told me a few days ago that she has graduated from a training bra to a regular one.

Then there is me. I look pretty much like I always have.

Maybe my breasts are little bigger because I'm getting my period and my face is less sallow. I'm having sex regularly so that would account for the sparkle of my complexion.

Then I see something else—my hands. They rest protectively on my abdomen.

My eyes meet Prim's in the mirror and she nods sagely.

The question was never for her. It was for _me_.

"No." I step back from the mirror. "No!"

"What's wrong?" Effie asks, her eyes following me as I reach for my phone.

I look over the phone calendar counting back. I was on the shot—it's totally impossible.

Well, maybe not altogether impossible. Nothing is really a 100%...

"No!" Almost two and a half months of quietness. "I need to find Peeta!"

"He's training with Marvel in the gymnasium," Johanna informs me. "You okay?"

"No!" I rush out of the door and towards the north side of the building—towards the gym. I can hear the other three calling out to me, in-between arguing with each other, and trying to catch up with my jogging. I see the double doors of the gym and push them open.

We're on the second floor where the bleachers are and I walk down the stairs towards the railing overlooking the gym floor. I see Peeta and Marvel in the boxing ring, sparring with one another; Peeta with the red gloves and Marvel with blue ones.

I have to catch my breath seeing Peeta shirtless—his skin golden and his abdomen perfectly sculpted for my viewing pleasure.

Cupping my hands, I bring them to my mouth. "Peeta!"

He looks up briefly, giving me a smile before avoiding Marvel's right hook. "Hey babe!"

Focusing back on Marvel, Peeta throws a quick jab at his opponent. I can hear Johanna, Effie, and Prim heading down towards me.

"We need to talk!" I shout at him. "It's important!"

"I'm almost done!" Peeta calls out before getting Marvel on his side. "Can it wait?"

"No!" I'm about ready to implode. "I need you now!"

He blocks Marvel's punch before going for a two-punch combo. "What cannot wait?"

"I'm pregnant!"

Peeta turns to me, shock in his blue eyes. "Wha—"

A swift right cross to the face knocks my fiancé down cold.

* * *

We both groan.

Peeta holds an ice pack to his jaw while I crawl onto our bed after a bout of vomiting the bowls of cereal that I had this morning.

As I lay down, he turns to me and attempts to smile. "We're a pair."

I laugh, clutching my stomach. "Aren't we?"

Reaching over, I take the sonogram photo on my side table.

Since we were already in the infirmary to make sure that Peeta's jaw wasn't broken, Effie pushed me to get a pregnancy test.

The infirmary team said they never saw a test strip change so quickly.

Dr. Aurelius, the head doctor, cleared Peeta. His jaw isn't broken, but it will be sore for the next few days. Marvel helped him back to our room since he was woozy from the drugs, while I got a sonogram and saw the rapid heartbeat of the baby growing inside me.

With Effie, Johanna, and Prim by my side, of course.

"Is this okay?" I present the photo to him. "I mean…are _we_ okay?"

Peeta reaches for the photo, his finger tracing the delicate profile of the little one we created. I can see the pained lines on his face soften looking at the baby.

I'm scared. I mean, I did burst into tears seeing the tiny being just tucked inside me.

Not all of the crying was because I'm happy. I don't know how to be a mother.

But, I do know I want this baby. I think I wished for him or her that first time with Peeta.

"Hey Katniss…" I turn at his call. "…do you want to get married?"

"We _are_ getting married." I peer at him in worry. "How many painkillers are you on?"

I see Peeta's half smile—since the ice-pack is covering part of his mouth.

"I mean, do you want to get married…tonight?"

I sit up and look down at him. "Why tonight?"

"Because it just feels right," Peeta tells me. "This has nothing to do with the drugs or the baby. It's just because I'm looking at you and I think that I don't want to wait any longer to be your husband." He sits up. "Life is precious, Katniss. You and I know that it shouldn't be wasted because we've both fought so hard to live and to be with each other." Taking my hand, he presses his lips to the top of it. "What do you think?"

"I think that Effie wouldn't mind letting me borrow her wedding dress."

* * *

"You sure do look pretty," Haymitch says as we walk down the makeshift aisle.

In a hastily-altered tux, Peeta waits at the gazebo with Marvel, who is his Best Man, and Beetee, who will be our officiant. Magically, he just happens to have this ability and has also managed to produce a wedding license.

Wiress, who is apparently a musical prodigy is playing Elvis' 'Can't Help Falling in Love' on the violin as we walk. She even got some of the kids who are violin players to accompany her.

Johanna and Prim stand opposite of Peeta and Marvel, wearing the dresses that they literally just picked out today, each in a different shade of green—my favorite color.

I wear Effie's wedding dress, sleeveless and high collared, with a slight train. My hair is weaved into an intricate braid with a full crown to rest the flowered wreath that Cinna created for me atop my head.

"I appreciate it," I say to Haymitch as we walk down the aisle. "Thank you for doing this."

"Don't tell anyone," he replies as we walk past our small gathering of guests. "But, you were always my favorite."

"Aw, thanks Dad," I tell him with a smile.

We stop at the end of the aisle and I look to Effie, who stands up to give me a kiss on the cheek. I feel the rise of tears and then turn to Haymitch, who is looking at me with shaky grey eyes so identical to mine, that it feels like we come from the same blood.

"We love you as if you were our very own," he tells me in a gruff voice. Looking over to Peeta, Haymitch turns to me. "You better get over there."

He joins a weeping Effie and I head over to my soon-to-be husband, but not before rushing back to give them a hug.

"I love you both," I say to them.

Turning to join Peeta, I smile brightly at the man before me. "Hi."

"Hi," he breathes as he takes my hand. "You're beautiful."

I reach to caress his chin. "Are you ready?"

"I've been ready since the day I broke your phone," Peeta responds.

That night under the stars, in my favorite place in the world, I married the man that I was supposed to kill.

* * *

 _Seven and a half months later…_

"Did it hurt?" Prim asks.

In her arms is the little girl that I pushed out of me in the early morning hours of this spring day. My little sister holds our daughter like an expert and I have no doubt that she will find the perfect playmate and babysitter with Prim.

"I've never lied to you," I tell her tiredly. "So hell yes, it hurt. The drugs wore off about an hour before she came out."

"You really powered through," Peeta adds as he enters the infirmary, his hand in a wrap and I grimace seeing it. "It's not as bad as it looks. You really don't know how strong you are though."

"Sorry. I was just lying here contracting and needed focus my pain somewhere," I reply with a smile.

Peeta sits next to me, giving me a kiss, before looking to Prim. "So what do you think, Aunt Prim?"

"I think that she's perfect." Prim sits down on the empty spot by me. "You two make beautiful babies…so make more."

I laugh. "Slow down! She's only an hour old and I think I want to spend some time enjoying her."

"Ditto on that." Peeta adjusts our daughter's blanket revealing a full smile, exactly like his. "Effie and Haymitch are out there in the hall arguing over which room they're going to use as her nursery."

"That's better than Johanna and Marvel's argument about who is going to train her in combat," I reply. "Those two—"

"—need to sleep with each other already?" Prim finishes. "They already have."

I look to her in surprise. "And, how do you know that?"

"Because I'm Johanna's roommate now. After a couple of drinks, she gets _very_ unplugged."

I forget that, even though I'm Prim's mentor, she lives with Johanna, who is now a full-time teacher.

"I'll have a talk with her," I say. "You really shouldn't be hearing these kinds of things."

Prim shakes her head, rocking our daughter. "It's fine. Really." She looks down to coo at the baby. "Because what Auntie Johanna doesn't realize is that she is crazy in love with Uncle Marvel…"

Peeta and I look to one another.

That's news that Peeta has already heard, only it's coming from Marvel's mouth.

"Let's just give them time," I reply as Prim gently places our little girl back in my arms.

She is really the best of us—all dark hair and blue eyes.

"So what's her name?" our little sister asks excitedly.

Peeta and I talked about it for a while, deciding that our little girl deserved not one, but two names. Her first name is after Peeta's mother. Prim still visits the Mellarks every so often. Peeta is now the Uncle of a little girl named Rachel, who is Rye's daughter. Brayden has finally married his longtime girlfriend and is welcoming a son later this year.

They plan to name him Peeta.

"First name is Amelia," I say.

"Like Princess Mia?" Prim beams. "And, Aunt Melly?" That is what she calls Peeta's mother. "I love it."

"Second name is Adele," Peeta continues for me. "For the songstress you suggested and what Katniss was listening to when I knocked her over."

"Amelia Adele Mellark," my sister repeats. "That's a lot of name."

"Mia can handle it," I assure her and smile up at my husband. "After all, she's part of our family."

 **FIN.**


End file.
